BY MOSES MUGUGUNYEKI RESIDENTS of Masvingo city had to endure a Christmas holiday without running water after one of the city’s two water treatment plants developed an electrical fault. Masvingo, just like any urban settlement in Zimbabwe, is facing an acute shortage of the precious liquid that has seen the city introducing water rationing. During the better part of last week access to water in Masvingo turned out to be erratic as the council was forced to abandon its water rationing schedule, leaving thousands of residents in a quandary. Enterprising residents cashed in on the crisis selling water in buckets, while those who could not afford had to resort to other sources, particularly fetching water from the heavily-polluted Mucheke River. “Water is now a problem in Masvingo. Last week we did not have water for the better part of the Christmas holiday,” a resident Ethel Ndlovu said. Masvingo City Council attributed the water shortage to an electrical fault at one of its treatment works. The local authority said it was operating at 50% capacity compelling it to deviate from its water-rationing schedule. “We are operating at 50% of our capacity after one of the transformers at one of the water treatment plants developed a fault,” the local authority’s public relations officer Ashleigh Jinjika said. Jinjika said the situation was worsened by intermittent power cuts, which had seen the local authority at some point stalling operations. “The city of Masvingo would like to notify residents and ratepayers that since the onset of the rainy season, council has been having serious power supply challenges as a result of electric faults,”Jinjika said. “There is no power at Bushmead Waterworks since December 25 which has affected pumping of water into reservoirs.”